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How long are we wiling to wait to see results? We typically have short-term goals and long-term goals that we create and aim for, but there’s this nagging monkey on our back that’s called impatience and pressure to always meet our goals on time if not ahead of time. In business and in ministry, we’ll make annual evaluations to see what we’ll continue to do and what we’ll stop doing. This has always intrigued me because the expectation of the “speed of change” is so high.

When I consider the pressure to perform and create results in this fast-paced environment, I can’t help but think about the ramifications (good and bad) that emerge. It’s good to be highly flexible and adaptive, but I also think that we can end of short-cutting and killing some things that are good, but take time. I also think that the shorter time intervals reinforces a selfish nature. I consider philanthropy and how at times there is pressure from donors to “perform” based on their investment. They want a return on their charitable contribution because they want to know that their money is well invested (even charity). This, however, is a self-fulfilling, demand driven philanthropy that can choke the beauty and long term development of an organization/movement.

All this is to say… how long are we willing to wait? Do we believe in patience? Moses led a movement through the desert to the promised land but never made it. Are we willing to be a generation that moves without ‘seeing’ results? Are we willing to invest everything that we have and every fiber of our being for the sake of the next generation? Imagine the potential for true, sustaining change…

The old testament is filled with story. When we typically read any story, we find ourselves choosing a perspective. This perspective is typically the one of the protagonist/hero or the victim/oppressed in need of saving. Very rarely if at all do we read ourselves into the role of the antagonist/villain.

A call to repentance…

God poured out grace to Pharaoh. He was allowed the opportunity to repent and free the Israelites. His heart, however, grew harder and his stubbornness became impenetrable. Egypt was an empire and Pharaoh was the center of its leadership, authority, and power. Its economy demanded more so that it could consume more. It was oppressive in nature because of the demands for excess.

The desert…

God calls us into the desert in order to simplify and purge out the strongholds that have become mini-gods in our lives. It is a trying time that sometimes leads us to believe that God is absent more than He is present. It’s a time where we feel displaced and unsure of our survivability. We feel like we’re living backwards because we hold on to the belief that adding things to our lives creates our identity. It is in the desert, however, where we learn to wholly depend on God and truly discover that He is all we need and the source of our true identity.

Manna…

God is our provider in every way. When the Israelites were walking through the desert, they began to hunger and so God provided manna. The caveat of manna was that you were only to collect what was needed for the day. If they collected more (hoarding), it would mold. Why would God do this? Maybe the better question is “Why would we do this?” Hoard that is. Maybe it’s because deep down they didn’t trust that God would provide for them day after day. Deep down they weren’t sure about God. Are we any different?

Present Day Significance…

We are facing one of the greatest economic crises in history. We are a credit-based community and it has now reached a point where we are over leveraged and our debt must to be paid.

Who are we in the story? Are we the Israelites in need of saving? Yes. Are we the Egyptians who are held captive to a self-power driven, empire model of life? Yes.

In either role, we are a people being called to repent and a people called to the desert where we can once again learn that God is our sustenance. We are to relearn discipleship – a genuine following of and trust in Jesus.

What will we do? Where do we begin?

I believe that we are to examine our lives and make some changes. There needs to be an evaluation of our life that includes: what we buy, who we buy from, how much we consume, how much we give, etc…

We can begin by taking an inventory of our assets (money and goods). And, as we pray, we can consider what we need and what is genuine excess in our lives. This is not a “get rid of our junk” session. It’s a time to be honest with God and with ourselves about who and what we live for.

Next Step?

My conviction is that we are to take our excess and find some way to match it up with those who are in need. There are still questions (i.e. how do we determine who is in need? Or how do we find those who are in need?) that are unanswered, but this is version 1.0 of this conviction that God has given me. I share it with you for your feedback, your counsel, and potentially your support.